h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm usually more interested in fiction, but have found some odd non-fiction works lately. Namely "The Arcanum" by Janet Gleason, the story of an alchemist and con-man who was thrown in prison by the king of Saxony, who said he would be freed as soon as he produced some gold made from lead. This turned into a life sentence, of course, but somewhere along the way, the young alchemist managed to find the secret for porcelain, a carefully guarded process that had not been known outside of China. The stories in this serious work fascinate me because they involve a sort of "industrial espionage" over a product that seems so ridiculous to us today. And yet, in the 1700s, people were hi-jacking cartloads of special clay from each other, just to find the all-important secret of porcelain!

Another good one, slightly less fascinating, was "Nathaniel's Nutmeg," about the spice trade. Fleets were launched and battles were fought, and eventually the island of Manhattan was somehow traded in the weird struggles between empires in search of nutmeg and pepper.

Anyhow, if anyone can recommend books of similarly weird history, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

OK - someone bought me Nath's Nut and I haven't read it yet so I'll bring it up the pile. "Made in America" has got a lot of odd history in it (Bill Bryson). In fact so much I think he must have made some of it up. Fascinating and dense stuff.

Greetings all - Just reviving the BooK NooK. The newest thread is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/F29359?thread=190127 Courtesy